In 2062

I wonder what the world will be like in 40 years time in 2061. Be interesting to travel forwards in time to that date, although not so good if I can't get back.

Will anyone have set foot on Mars? I doubt it. Will we have conscious computers? No.. Will autonomous cars dominate the roads? Ugh . . difficult one, level 4 yes that can drive in prescribed areas, but not level 5 cars that can drive anywhere. Will we have a theory of everything (TOE)? No. Will we be able to upload our minds? No. Will virtual reality have become a big thing by then? Yes.

Education and Indoctrination

It has been said that indoctrination and education are polar opposites and absolutely incompatible.

In an ideal world, but certainly not in practice. To a large measure, education indoctrinates us into believing that our modern "scientific" picture of the world has more or less given us a correct picture of what reality is with only the details needing to be filled in. Thus, there is no God, no afterlife, no magic, no ghosts, no psi, no objective morality, no "free will", no ultimate given purpose to our lives, no colours, sounds or smells in the external world.

I surmise my "education" has been very poor since I believe in all of these things (possibly not magic, I lack sufficient information to reach a conclusion here).

It's a bizarre situation we find ourselves in

It's bizarre enough that we find ourselves existing on the surface of a huge ball floating in the midst of an eternal nothingness. But, arguably, what's even more bizarre is that no-one questions it. Everyone thinks it's normal. 

We need to take a step back and just consider how utterly strange is the situation in which we find ourselves. Are we all being deceived? Are our lives akin to some strange dream, and when we die we'll realise how preposterous it all is? I don't know.

Existential thoughts and Depression

I've noticed since first coming on the Internet (back in 1999), that when I express certain existential thoughts e.g. what does it all mean etc, people think I'm depressed.

Nothing could be further from the truth! It's because I'm excited. My thoughts are bubbling to the surface. I'm fascinated by what it all means (if anything).

Either the Universe and our lives are absurd. Or there is some ultimate purpose (which suggests a "life after death" and all that might entail). But either possibility is mind-blowing.

In my heart of hearts, I'm convinced there's an ultimate purpose to it all. But I assure people I'm not depressed when I express such thoughts. In fact, if anything, I'm feeling pleasantly . .um . . wistful . . awed by it all?? Certainly not depressed, though!

Absolute wealth or relative wealth

Jus' thinking. Which would people prefer:

a) To get paid £100,000 a year for a specific job whilst everyone else earned £50,000 a year.

b) To get paid £200,000 a year for a specific job whilst everyone else earned £400,000 a year.

I think people would tend to say "b", but in reality would feel happier with "a". To be better off than others gives people satisfaction, but to earn less than everyone else is not good for one's self-esteem. Of course, ideally, we ought to be solely interested in our absolute wealth.

Conventional Wisdom

A woman said on Facebook, "I love people who challenge conventional wisdom". I certainly fit into that category. However, I seem to do it a tad too often.

I reject the conventional wisdom that we are just here for the ride and there's no "life after death". I reject the wisdom that robots will eventually become conscious and be a threat to humankind. I reject the wisdom that capitalism and democracy are the ideals that society should strive for. I reject the wisdom that in the next couple of decades or so we will detect alien civilisations. I reject the wisdom that morality is merely a reflection of one's culture and there is no objective morality. I reject the wisdom that we are what our environment makes us, and people aren't born nasty. I reject the wisdom of the desirability of compelling children to attend school 35 hours a week from the ages of 4 to 18. I reject the wisdom that the more people go to University, the better. I reject the wisdom that to be ambitious is extremely desirable.

Am I a maverick purely for the sake of being a maverick? I don't think so . . but ...

Our lives are ultimately mysterious

Our whole lives and all things are pervaded with ultimate mystery. I sometimes feel as if I'm in something akin to a dream. That when I wake up I'll understand everything, perhaps when I die. That at the present time my mind is effectively wading through sludge.

When I die

I feel that when I die I might enter into infinity and encompass love beyond compare, beyond comprehension. All memories will come flooding back. I will meet my soulmate, who I had long forgotten. A mutual, infinite love and empathy that will turn my soul inside out. I will feel I have finally come home, at last know who I truly am.

The best way to die?

People say that when it's their time to go they'd just like to go quickly rather than hearing they have some terminal illness. I completely identify with that. I would feel terrified if I learnt I had a terminal illness. Much better to go quickly -- not endure those months of fear leading to one's eventual demise.

And yet . . and yet . . I think that after the initial shock and stultifying fear; the subsequent reminiscing about my life; what it all means; whether I might survive my death and if so what I might experience; writing down these thoughts in one of my blogs, perhaps even relating any anomalous experiences I might have e.g. deathbed visions, then perhaps this might be a desirable option. At least if any pain could be minimised.

The Emperor has no Clothes

The origin of this phrase comes from a Hans Christian Anderson's fable The Emperor’s New Clothes. A vain emperor spends a vast amount of money on clothes. One day a couple of con men pay him a visit and offered to make him the most expensive clothes ever which would have a magical property of being invisible to those unfit for office or who are simply stupid. So the emperor ordered that they be made. Of course the con men made nothing at all, but pretended they did. Since no one wanted to appear to be incompetent and stupid, everyone, including the emperor, pretended they could see the clothes. But one day a small child piped up that the emperor has nothing on. The bubble of pretence burst and everyone then admitted they could see no clothes either.

We pay lip service to certain ideas because everyone else seems to subscribe to them, and we don't want to appear to be idiotic, or even a loon. But then certain ideas are perpetuated, not because of their intrinsic merit, but because no one dares say anything.

The Metaphysics of Horror

I read a very interesting article:

The Metaphysics of Horror

The article says:

What would your feelings be,” asks Ambrose in Arthur Machen’s novel The House of Souls, 

“… if your cat or your dog began to talk to you, and to dispute with you in human accents?” He goes on: You would be overwhelmed with horror. I am sure of it. And if the roses in your garden sang a weird song, you would go mad. And suppose the stones in the road began to swell and grow before your eyes, and if the pebble that you noticed at night had shot out stony blossoms in the morning?" 

Machen’s examples are disturbing, but it’s not immediately obvious why. It’s not that they’re frightening, at least not in the ordinary sense of the word. Normally, we’re scared of things because we think they pose a physical danger to us, but singing roses don’t pose any such hazard, so why is the thought of them so nightmarish?

This is interesting. A singing rose would indeed fill us with horror. Scientists and others might likewise be horrified by the paranormal for similar reasons. Certain bizarre phenomena might discombobulate us, confuse us, shock us. We need to feel that we can grasp the world, at least to a certain degree. But something super-strange happening upsets everything we thought we ever understood. It fosters the feeling that anything might happen. We feel a loss of control over reality.

I am going to die sooner or later

I am going to die sooner or later. I don't know what will happen. Whether I'll just descend into eternal nothingness -- and wouldn't that be so boring, and bizarre? It would mean our lives are absurd, and all things are absurd. That our lives and all things are a joke. Or I'll ascend into some new reality. That's also bizarre. So many questions like what the heck will I experience, how will my mind states change and so on. But, regardless, death will happen to me -- it will happen to all of us. Then my questions may be answered. Either that or an eternal sleep.